FCC Strengthens, Modernizes Phone Hearing Aid Compatibility Requirements

The FCC has adopted new rules that will require 100% of cell phones sold in the US to be hearing-aid compatible (HAC). The FCC is also modifying its rules to incorporate Bluetooth connections to hearing aids. Currently, phone manufacturers and service providers are only required to offer HAC in 85% of the models in their lineup. (In practice, most reach 100%, or nearly, already.) The new rules address three distinct ways someone might use a phone with a hearing aid: acoustic, telecoil (T-coil), and Bluetooth. Acoustic means simply holding the phone up to your ear, and phones must be designed so they don't create interference when used this way. This benchmark moves from 85% to 100%. The telecoil requirement remains at 85%, but since Bluetooth is a more modern alternative to telecoil, the FCC will now require that at least 15% of phone models support Bluetooth connections to hearing aids. Further, 100% of phones must support either telecoil or Bluetooth. Phone makers have two years to meet these requirements, while national carriers will have 2 1/2 years, and smaller carriers will have 3 1/2 years. For now, companies will be able to meet the Bluetooth requirement with proprietary solutions like Apple's MFi and Google's ASHA. But in four years, companies will be required to support non-proprietary standards like the new Hearing Access Profile (HAP) introduced as part of Bluetooth LE Audio.